Kyrillos to Introduce Legislation For Homeowners Affected By FEMA

Kyrillos to Introduce Legislation For Homeowners Affected By FEMA

New Maps Would Require Property Owners to Purchase Flood Insurance

            Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth/Middlesex) will introduce legislation that provides Shore area property owners much-needed relief from newly mandated flood insurance requirements.

         "Increasing fuel prices, record job losses and a stagnant economy are causing New Jersey families and businesses to face severe financial challenges," Kyrillos said. "It is ridiculous for Congress to now mandate another high priced burden on their already over-strained budgets, especially in areas that have no history of flooding."

         New, preliminary flood maps have been released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that give property owners a better idea about whether they need flood insurance and how much protection they need. Residents who didn't require insurance in the past or were considered to be in low or moderate risk zones, may now be considered to be living in high-risk areas and could be forced to pay premiums costing up to $5,000 each year. Federal law requires flood insurance for any building that is located in a high risk zone.

        "Homeowners and businesses who haven’t been required to have flood insurance for the past several decades may now be forced to spend several hundreds to thousands of dollars a year in unanticipated premiums," continued Kyrillos. "Rather than fix the problem and upgrade the existing floodgates, Congress would rather punish the people. It is not right to make the residents pay for the mistakes made by their elected officials in Washington, DC.”

            Senator Kyrillos will introduce two separate resolutions to address this issue. One will urge the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Army Corps of Engineers to take all steps possible to expeditiously upgrade the beach and dune system found in Keansburg, Hazlet and Middletown, otherwise known as the Bayshore Flood Gate. This upgrade will allow several thousand state residents to avoid purchasing expensive flood insurance. The second resolution will call on Congress to alter the way it mandates flood insurance, making requirements less onerous and more cost-efficient for the property owner. Both resolutions will be introduced this month.    

           "New Jersey businesses and residents need to take the necessary steps and proper precautions to prepare for worst-case scenarios," concluded Kyrillos. "At the same time government has a responsibility to protect those who play by the rules, yet are hurt because the rules were changed in the middle of the game."

            The new preliminary flood maps for parts of New Jersey come halfway through FEMA's five year, $1 billion nationwide flood map modernization project.

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